Ethan retrieved the book, stuffed it into his backpack and headed for the front door with his mother following behind him. She walked him out to the bus stop every morning, even though her son had told her she didn’t have to. He was almost eight after all.

Paul remembered having the same conversation with his parents around that age with the same results. One of their parents had put him and Alex on the bus until the middle school kids started making fun of them and they’d begged them to stay home. He hadn’t thought about that in years, and the memory made him smile.

Since Alex and Jenny would be getting up any minute, Paul decided to meet Hope on the way back from the bus stop. There was no way he was letting that middle-of-the-night kiss fester all day. He had to make sure they were okay, that she wasn’t planning to quit or anything else equally unimaginable.

This was exactly why his father had told them to keep their hands off the employees. Alex had once asked their dad what he would’ve done if he’d met their mother when she came to work at the store for a summer. George had famously said, “I would’ve waited until the day the summer ended and then chased after her until she agreed to be my girl.”

That’s what he should do, too. He hated to think of the day when Hope would no longer be in their employ, because that would mean his mother had passed away or required more care than they could provide at home. They weren’t just talking about a summer in this case. His mother could live for years yet, and Paul wanted that. So if he was interested in Hope, was he supposed to wait until his mother died or moved out and Hope no longer worked for them?

He couldn’t help but think that even his late father would find that a foolish waste of valuable time, especially when Paul wasn’t getting any younger and felt like his life was slipping away while he was held captive to his many responsibilities.

On her way down the long lane from the main road, Hope stopped when she saw him coming.

Paul held up his hands. “I come in peace.”

That drew a small smile from her. She folded her arms into that protective pose she preferred and dropped her gaze. “I’m so sorry, Paul. I don’t know what came over me.”

“You aren’t going to quit, are you?”

Gasping, she looked up at him. “Do you want me to?”

“Hell no, I don’t want you to quit. We’d be lost without you.”

“It was very unprofessional of me to kiss my boss like that.”

“Your boss kinda liked it.”

“Oh. Um…” She seemed to force herself to look at him. “You did?”

Paul nodded.